[News] Defying Washington: Haiti's Aristide Returns to the Caribbean

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Monday, March 15th, 2004
Defying Washington: Haiti's Aristide Returns to the Caribbean
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/15/1615213


BARBADOS (March 15)--Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has just 
touched down in the Caribbean nation of Barbados, as he makes his way 
toward Jamaica. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman is with Aristide, his 
Haitian-American wife Mildred, and the delegation of US and Jamaican 
officials that is accompanying the Aristides to Jamaica, which has offered 
to temporarily host them. Goodman is one of only two journalists traveling 
with Aristide. She said they believe the group will arrive in Jamaica at 
approximately 12 pm EST today.

In returning to the Caribbean, Aristide is defying the Bush administration, 
which has stated clearly it does not want Aristide in the Western Hemisphere.

Goodman has been traveling with the Aristides and the US/Jamaican 
delegation on the chartered Gulfstream jet that is returning Aristide to 
the Caribbean.

As the plane made its way to the Caribbean, Goodman reported the following:

"The U.S. delegation on board is extremely excited at being able to 
accomplish their mission of picking President Aristide up from the Central 
African Republic. On the plane, I spoke with President Aristide and Mildred 
Aristide about the situation in Haiti. They talked about their concern over 
a number of issues, among them, that the University of Peace has been made 
the U.S. military base in Port-au-Prince. The hospital there, the medical 
school that teaches Haitians to become doctors, the teachers have been 
threatened, and are afraid to work there. This in a country of total 
destitution that has one of the lowest rates of doctors in the world."

Goodman continued:

"Mildred Aristide also talked about the looting of her home. As soon as the 
Aristides left, their house was robbed. Contrast this to what happened 
after the first coup, when the US government promised the coup leader, Raul 
Cedras, his home would be protected, and they actually paid him $2,000 a 
month for the use of it."

Preceding Aristide's departure from the Central African Republic, there was 
a several-hour-long stand-off in the capital, Bangui, that raised serious 
questions about whether the Haitian leader would be permitted to leave 
Africa. The events also suggest that the US or other foreign governments 
may have attempted to prevent or delay Aristide from leaving. Aristide, who 
was democratically elected, has charged that he was "kidnapped" from Haiti 
on February 29 in a US-orchestrated coup. Aristide reiterated these 
allegations in a series of interviews with Goodman in Bangui.

Throughout Sunday, there were a flurry of meetings between Aristide and the 
president of the Central African Republic, Gen. Francois Bozize. Some of 
the meetings also included Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Jamaican 
parliamentarian Sharon Hay-Webster, who is representing Jamaica's Prime 
Minister PJ Patterson, as well as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). At one 
point, Aristide emerged from a meeting with Gen. Bozize inside the 
presidential palace. Amy Goodman reported that when he came out of the 
meeting, Aristide was "surrounded by military."

After the initial round of talks with Bozize, Aristide spoke briefly with 
Goodman. She reported that "Aristide thinks that President Bozize must 
consult with those who called Bozize before Aristide was taken to the 
CARthe US, France and Gabonto decide whether Bozize should allow Aristide 
to leave the country." These were the three countries that orchestrated 
Aristide's stay in the CAR.

It is not yet clear what possible role the US and other foreign governments 
played in the stand-off that preceded Aristide's departure from the CAR. In 
an interview with Goodman as the stand-off was underway, Aristide's lawyer 
Ira Kurzban questioned whether the Haitian president was being held 
prisoner because he was not being allowed to leave when he wanted.

Ultimately, after numerous meetings, the group was told they would be 
allowed to leave the CAR. Moments before they took off, Goodman conducted a 
brief, exclusive interview with Aristide. "Because they [the government of 
the CAR] were so gracious in welcoming us here, it is natural that while we 
are leaving the first thing we say is thank you," Aristide told Goodman.

She then asked Aristide for his thoughts on his impending return to the 
Caribbean. "In the Caribbean family, we find the African diaspora too," 
said Aristide. "Now that we are in Africa, moving toward Jamaica, we are 
moving from one big family to the same family somehow. Thats why we will 
continue to do our best to promote peace, friendship for all of us as 
members of the same family, as brothers and sisters."

Mildred Aristide told Goodman she is very much looking forward to reuniting 
with her two small daughters.

The delegation that traveled to the CAR to escort Aristide back to the 
Caribbean was led by Rep. Waters. "It has been been quite an experience," 
Waters told Goodman just before they boarded the plane in Bangui. "It has 
been a long day... We are very pleased to be getting on the airplane and he 
will be in Jamaica by tomorrow."

Sharon Hay-Webster, the emissary of Jamaica and CARICOM, told Goodman, "I 
can say that on behalf of the team, all of us who were here to represent 
President Aristide and CARICOM, all of his family within the diaspora of 
the US and the Caribbean, we are happy to meet with our family members here 
in Africa and to have a positive decision to be taken - that is for him to 
be returned to his family within CARICOM... and for him to be reunited with 
his children and all the family to plan together as to how they will 
proceed from here."

TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, who is a close friend of the 
Aristides, is also a member of the delegation. "I am very pleased that 
President and Mrs. Aristide will be reunited with the children tomorrow in 
Jamaica," Robinson told Democracy Now!. "It is refreshing. I am extremely 
relieved. They have been out here for so long. To see them joining us, 
going home is a great joy and a great relief."

Before the Aristides departed Bangui, President Bozize presented them with 
two gifts--one a picture made of hundreds of butterfly wings, the other a 
piece of art made from rare wood from the CAR.

US OPPOSES ARISTIDE'S RETURN TO WEST. HEMISPHERE

Throughout Sunday, Goodman reported on the stand-off in the CAR over the 
fate of Aristide and his wife Mildred. She indicated that there was some 
question among the visiting delegation on what role Washington was playing 
in the situation. What is clear is that US officials have declared very 
publicly that they do not want Aristide to return to the Western Hemisphere.

"We think it's a bad idea," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice told 
NBC's "Meet the Press." "We believe that President Aristide, in a sense, 
forfeited his ability to lead his people, because he did not govern 
democratically."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on CNN's "Late Edition," said: "The hope 
is that he will not come back into the hemisphere and complicate [the] 
situation."

In Haiti, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Richard 
Myers, said, "As far as Aristides return to the region is concerned, if 
that increases the violence here, then that would be extremely unhelpful."

The US has also criticized Jamaica for offering to host Aristide. "Jamaican 
authorities are certainly taking on a risk and a responsibility," said 
James Foley, the US Ambassador to Haiti. "His coming within 150 miles from 
Haiti is promoting violence."

Jamaican Prime Minister Patterson, speaking as current chairman of the 
15-nation CARICOM, has called for an international investigation into the 
circumstances of Aristide's removal from Haiti February 29. The 53-nation 
African Union echoed that call last week.

Earlier, Goodman reported that, as the stand-off ensued, the delegation's 
pilots were on-board the plane for a number of hours, awaiting word on 
whether the group would be allowed to leave. "That answer has come and it 
appears to be yes," said Goodman, just moments after the final round of 
talks between Aristide, Bozize and the US/Jamaican delegation ended.

Moments before the Aristides and the delegation left for the airport, the 
Director General of State Protocol of the Central African Republic, 
Stanislas Moussa-Kembe, told Goodman, who at the time was inside the 
Presidential Palace in Bangui, that the Aristides would be allowed to leave 
the Central African Republic immediately. He told Goodman, "You're headed 
to the airport."

Goodman was reporting from inside the Presidential Palace late into Sunday 
night. She is now with Aristide and the delegation that came from the US to 
escort him to Jamaica. They are expected to arrive in the Caribbean nation 
midday Monday.

NOTE: Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman has been in the Central African 
Republic with a delegation led by US and Jamaican lawmakers, where she has 
been reporting on the return of Aristide to the Caribbean. They are 
currently on a plane en route to Jamaica. The delegation includes Rep. 
Maxine Waters, TransAfrica founder and close friend of the Aristides, 
Randall Robinson, Sharon Hay-Webster, an emissary of the Jamaican prime 
minister, as well as Aristide's Miami-based lawyer, Ira Kurzban. Washington 
Post reporter Peter Eisner is also with the group.

This is a Democracy Now! global broadcast exclusive. Check the Democracy 
Now! website regularly for the latest news on this historic trip.

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